The present invention relates to diamond layered abrading tools. More particularly, the present invention relates to a multilayer diamond abrading tool produced without a mold.
In the past, it has been desirable to produce diamond abrading wheels and other abrading tools. Of these prior tools, the most common types include tools having a monolayer of grit and multilayer grit tools. The single layer grit structures include a metal substrate which has a single layer of diamond grit particles attached thereto to provide the abrading surfaces. While these tools provide advantages in cost of manufacture over other abrading tools, they may have a limited life for grinding of certain materials. This is a problem because through the course of grinding operations, the diamond grit particles eventually come loose reducing the efficiency of the abrading tool.
On the other hand, the multilayer tools include several thicknesses of dispersed diamond cutting grit, thus, providing continued layers of usable grinding surfaces beyond the initial surface layer of diamond grit. In the past, in order to provide such a multilayer diamond grit abrading tool configuration, it was required to provide a mold to produce the necessary shape when sintering a diamond grit matrix onto a core. This is most effectively accomplished by molding with heat and compression, such that an advantageous multilayer wheel or the like surface would be produced and attached to the substrate tool structure.
Because of the necessity of molds and tooling for these sintered multilayer abrasion tools, the capital expenditures for equipment and costs of production are high. Additionally, it has been inherent in the manufacturing process that there is much wasted material during final machining of these molded multilayer abrading wheels.
In the present invention there is provided a method for producing a multilayer diamond abrading structure on an abrading tool having an irregular abrading surface without the use of molding and/or pressure. This advantageously provides a less expensive and more efficient method of producing a multilayer abrading tool.